


Meet You At The Coffee Shop

by CallMeHopeless



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Awkardness, Coffee Shops, M/M, OC character - Freeform, Taka is stuck with all the drama, Viktor is pining, Viktor with K, Yurio is not helping, Yuuri Is So Done, Yuuri doesn't remember the banquet, Yuuri is oblivious, a lot of misunderstandings, maybe Viktor can change his mind, pure fluff basically, very slow burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-04-09
Packaged: 2018-09-17 15:32:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 19,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9331658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CallMeHopeless/pseuds/CallMeHopeless
Summary: Katsuki Yuuri is done. He is embarrassed and tired after the Grand-Prix-Finale, until he stumbles upon a coffee shop which really looks quite lovely. He applies for a job and is happy making coffee all day - until his idol Viktor Nikiforov decides to show up, that is.





	1. Chapter 1

After the disastrous grand-prix-finale, Yuuri had enough. He packed his bags and flew back to Hasetsu. He completely ignored any texts from his friends in the ice skating community and his coach. He was done. He just didn't see the point anymore. The last straw was his mother telling him that the family had done some kind of event, having people over to watch the competition and everytime he replayed his failure over and over again in his mind, he was stung with a new wave of embarrassment. That Yuri Plisetsky showed up just to scowl at him hadn't made it any easier.

Now, Yuuri's days were filled with lovely walks around town and quiet hours on his home rink. He finally felt like he could breathe again.

 

It wasn't until three months had passed, that his mother told him that it would probably be good if he found some proper occupation soon. He knew he should do something. Sitting on his ass wouldn't make finding a job easier later on.

He promised her to keep an eye out and continued with his lazy walks.

 

One morning, he walked by a coffee shop in a part of town he hadn't been in since before he went to college and he had to stop and look through the windows. Inside, it was very comfortably decorated. None of the furniture matched and there were proper armchairs as well as some stools and wooden chairs. Still, it looked very welcoming and Yuuri felt something pulling him towards the entrance.

 

“Hi,” a young man greeted him when he approached the counter. There were displays with pastries from all over the world and behind the counter there was a large display with the drinks they offered.

“Er,” Yuuri blushed while studying the menu.

“A cappuccino and one of those cupcakes, please.”

The young boy nodded and started to prepare the drink while Yuuri counted the right amount of money on the table.

That was when his eyes roamed over a small sign at the side of the counter which had the headline 'Help wanted'. Yuuri felt his face heat up again. He didn't know why exactly but this place made him feel calm. Made him feel safe. Just like the rink did. Without even thinking about it, he fixed the barista with an inquiring stare as he blurted:

“You're hiring?”

The boy smirked and placed Yuuri's coffee and cupcake in front of him.

“Yeah, we do. My colleague is off to college in a few weeks so...the boss thought it would be a good thing to hire someone else. You interested?”

Yuuri just nodded and took in the others appearance. Funny, he thought, the colleague going off to college somewhere else but he was certain that the boy in front of him was exactly the right age to be in college as well. He had longish dark hair, artfully tousled and very friendly eyes and smile.

“Well then, here's our application form, just fill it out and come in to talk to my boss, how does that sound?”

Yuuri quickly pulled himself out of his stupor and nodded.

“Sounds good.”

“I'm Takahiro, by the way. But most people just call me Taka.”

Yuuri smiled.

“Yuu-”

“-ri, Katsuki. I know,” Taka smirked.

“I saw most of the tournaments you were in on TV. The whole town was rooting for you, you know?”

Yuuri felt a fresh wave of heat crawl up his spine and he was interestingly close to tears just because a stranger had witnessed his defeat.

“No need to feel bad about that last one though,” Taka said conversationally while putting Yuuri's money into the register.

“Happens to the best of us, right?”

Yuuri simply mumbled thanks, took the form, his coffee and pastry and sat down in one of the large armchairs.

He immediately felt better, safe. Even though he was in a public place. He really let himself fall into the cushioned back of the chair and sighed as he took the first sip of his coffee.

Yes, he thought. He was going to apply for a job. He simply didn't care anymore what people thought. It was his life and he was going to start being confident about it.

 

*

“Good morning, what can I get you?” had become Yuuri's most said phrase in the span of the past three months.

As it turned out, meeting the boss had been simply a formality. The contract already lay on the table when he entered and the older man who owned the coffee shop simply patted him on the shoulder and told him he'd be happy to have him since his son was such a big fan of his to which Taka shrieked “Dad!” from outside the room.

That was the Taka mystery solved, then. No wonder he didn't go off to college when his father owned such a lovely shop, Yuuri mused.

On this particular morning, he had said his default phrase about a hundred times but when he looked up at the one-hundred-an-first time, the worlds almost got stuck in his throat.

“Good morning, Yuuri!” the man in front of him exclaimed happily in English.

“Such a cute apron you're wearing!”

Yuuri retreated until his back hit the sink right behind him and he couldn't but stare in shock at the newest arrival.

“Vi- Viktor,” he finally got out to which the other man just smiled brightly and nodded.

“Yes, yes, I haven't seen you in a while.”

That simple sentence threw Yuuri completely.

“You... what? You haven't seen me, ever,” he said confused and then mumbled:

“Well, maybe in passing but I've actually...” his eyes widened when a simple thought occurred to him. He had never actually spoken to Viktor Nikiforov if you don't count the one time where Viktor had offered him to take a photo together.

When he looked back up, Viktor was leaning on the counter, pouting. Yuuri was glad that it was almost noon so it wasn't as crowded and busy in the shop as it was in the mornings and afternoons.

“What do you mean I haven't seen you ever? Don't tell me you forgot about it?”

“Forgot about what?” Yuuri scrunched his eyebrows together. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good.

Viktor sighed audibly.

“Join me at a table?” he asked but Yuuri shook his head. Before he could say anything however, Taka came out from their storage room and squeaked.

“Viktor Nikiforov, of course Yuuri has time to talk to you!” he exclaimed and pushed Yuuri in the direction of Viktor, smiling.

“I'm a big fan.”

“Thank you,” Viktor said in Japanese and winked. If Yuuri didn't know better, he thought Taka was one second away from fainting. He rolled his eyes, trying to seem calmer than he really was. Inside, there was so much going on that he didn’t even know where to start. Butterflies, maybe? At seeing his idol and talking to him? A churning feeling of absolute horror because he could trip or do something else utterly horrifying? Whatever it was, he thought it best not to dwell on it.

He simply nodded and followed Viktor to a table, before the older man turned around, looked at Taka again and said: “A latte would be lovely, thanks,” before winking again. Now, there was no mistaking. Taka blushed furiously as he nodded and turned to the espresso machine as to hide his face.

 

“So, what did you want to talk to me about?” Yuuri asked as he sat down opposite from Viktor, who was currently trying to see how much sugar would fit into his cup without causing it to overflow – at least that's what it looked like to Yuuri.

“Well, you asked me to be your coach.”

Yuuri instantly sat up straight.

“I did no such thing?”

Viktor giggled and then looked a little sad.

“So you have forgotten,” he simply stated and sipped his coffee, just to happily cry “Vkusno!” at Taka, who blushed again.

“Have forgotten what?” Yuuri tried getting back to the topic.

“The banquet.”

Yuuri tried wrecking his brain for any social gatherings he could have talked to Viktor at but came up short.

Viktor sighed.

“The banquet after the final. You came up to me and asked for me to be your coach only to completely vanish the next day. Do you have any idea how exhausting it was to track you down?”

“Y-you... what?”

Viktor shook his fringe out of his face and fixed Yuuri with an intense stare.

“I wanted to see you. Coach or not.”

“W-why?”

“This is so frustrating,” Viktor took another sip.

“What? Viktor, if I did something, I'm sorry, I-” with a start he remembered standing alone in the corner, drinking champagne after champagne after champagne. He buried his head in his hands.

“Oh god. What did I do?”

When he looked back up, Viktor smiled at him softly.

“If you don't remember, I won't tell. But, Yuuri, I would really like to be your coach.”

“But I quit,” Yuuri mumbled.

“For good.”

Viktor nodded solemnly.

“So I've heard. But you won't tell me I've come all this way just to be sent back, right?”

Puppy dog eyes. Yuuri couldn't believe it. His idol, the most handsome man he knew made puppy dog eyes at him.

“I guess not,” Yuuri mumbled, sighing. He noticed his hands fidgeting.

“Awesome!” Viktor cried and sipped his coffee with more vigour than before.

 


	2. Chapter 2

When Viktor left the café with an elegant wave, calling “See you later” over his shoulder, Yuuri didn't think anything of it.

However, when he came home and saw Viktor sitting in their kitchen, happily munching on a Katsudon bowl, he was a little bit thrown, the say the least.

“Whaaa, what are you doing here?” Yuuri asked, taking in the scene in front of him.

Viktor was wearing one of the Inn's robes and fit in perfectly with Yuuris familiar surroundings. Which was what irritated him the most.

“Oh, Yuuri, you're home,” his mother greeted him, walking into the room and sitting down next to Viktor.

“Vichan and me were just talking about how cute you were as a child, weren't we?” she looked in Viktors direction for confirmation.

“We were,” Viktor said solemnly and then smiled:

“Especially in the pictures with your poodle!”

Yuuri was sure that blushing that much really wasn't good for his health and blood circulation but he couldn't help it. He felt hot all over and tried to calm down before he asked:

“What, what picture? Mum, did you...”

“Oh, we just looked through our old photo albums, Yuuri. Viktor here said that he is going to be your coach, is that true?” she cocked her head, smiling sweetly.

“No!” Yuuri immediately clarified.

“Absolutely not! He just came by today and...” he looked at Viktor intently.

“I'm never going to skate professionally again. I have a life here. A job.”

“Making coffee for people,” Viktor mumbled, his hair falling into his face.

“That can't possibly make you happy.”

“I- I do more than that! I do make people happy with the coffee and sometimes they talk to me and thank me and that makes _me_ happy. I'm happy!”

“So, do you have a boyfriend?” Viktor suddenly asked.

“Wh-” Yuuri tried getting farther away from the table as possible but his back was already against the wall. He looked at his mother for her reaction but she just followed the conversation with open curiosity.

“What does that have to do with anything?” he finally ground out.

Viktor shrugged.

“Well, I'm sure that you are happy if you have one.”

“I can be happy without a boyfriend.”

“Sure, yeah, I suppose...” Viktor looked thoughtful until he brightened up again:

“Your co-worker sure is cute. Taco, was it?”

“Taka,” Yuuri corrected which caused Viktor to giggle.

“Yes, yes. I thought I was confusing his name with the Mexican food.”

Yuuri just stared at him, unbelievingly. He had always admired Viktors grace and elegance on the ice but somehow, this private version of him, the one that laughed freely and said whatever thought suddenly popped into his head was even more endearing. He quickly shook his head to clear it of the direction his thoughts were going in.

Viktor had to go.

“Didn't Yuri Plisetsky ask you to be his coach?”

“Did he?”

Yuuri looked perplexed.

“Well, yes, as far as I know you agreed.”

“Did I?”

Viktor looked genuinely puzzled and Yuuri pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Maybe you should ask him first what he thinks of you rushing off to hold up a promise I don't even remember.”

“Well I didn't promise anyway.”

“Huh?”

“I didn't promise anything. You just asked me. And I was intrigued. But before I could talk to you some more, your coach rushed you out of the room, especially after the dancing...”

Another wave of heat rushed through Yuuri.

“Dancing, what dancing?”

Viktor giggled. “Oh, I should probably not say.”

Only when his mother started to giggle as well, Yuuri remembered her presence.

“Right, okay, I'm going to bed now,” he announced, heading to the door.

“But you haven't had dinner yet,” his mother said shocked.

“Well, maybe I'll skip it today.” Yuuri really didn't feel like staying any longer and his appetite was more than gone. It was strange, having his absolute hero in his house and more than a little irritating. When he'd almost reached his room, he heard footsteps behind him and had just enough time to turn around before Viktors arms embraced him and pushed him against his chest. The very much naked chest since the robe wasn't tied properly. Yuuri's vision was blurred, his glasses askew and his pace pressed up against the solid chest. Just when he asked himself what the hell just happened, Viktor started to speak:

“Yuuri, I know my presence is vexing for you right now. I want you to see me as a help instead of a liability. I am here to make a better you out of you!”

Yuuri simply said:

“You could start by letting go of me.” It came out muffled, since the grip Viktor had him in was so tight.

“Oh,” was the only thing he heard before he was put back on his own two feet.

He combed through his hair with his fingers, fixed his glasses and sighed.

“Look, it's very nice of you to come here and all but I was serious before. I don't want to skate anymore. I am absolutely done and there is nothing you could do that could change my mind.”

There was a glint in Viktor's eye when Yuuri dared to look up.

“Nothing? What if I can make it happen?”

Yuuri laughed, feeling very sure of himself.

“Whatever.”

“Oh, so you will give me whatever. Alright. I will keep that in mind. For now, I must go to sleep. I will start my seduction tomorrow.”

And off he was.

Another blush tinted Yuuri's cheeks and he pinched them to make it go away.

“Seduction, he said,” he mumbled to himself.

“I'm not sure if he knows how that sounded.”

In his room, he took a look around and very calmly put all of his posters of Viktor down. He wasn't sure why but his gut told him that Viktor had come to stay and he didn't want to risk him seeing Yuuri's little room of worship. He folded them neatly and put them into his closet together with all of the magazines he had collected that featured Viktor.

He went to bed with a very uneasy feeling. He had just started feeling like his life was getting normal. Just when he thought he had found his place in the world, Viktor had rushed in like a violent whirlwind and had disrupted the peace.

Despite all of that, Yuuri fell asleep with a smile on his face. He knew he should feel a little anxious of what was to come but he couldn't help it. The excitement and curiosity of it all predominated his thoughts.

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

“So, er, he's here again,” Taka whispered in Yuuris ear, when after a whole week of staying at Yuuri's family home, Viktor came into the coffee shop in high spirits.

Yuuri sighed.

“Yeah, he wants me to skate again...”

Suddenly, Taka clapped loudly once.

“You have to do it, Yuuri!”

Yuuri looked at his friend in complete shock.

“Er, no, I don't. I quit, remember? I work with you? Here? Handing out coffee and stuff?”

“Yeah, but,” he came closer, looking around him as if to make sure noone was eavesdropping,

“ _Viktor Nikiforov_ is here to _ask_ you.”

Yuuri shrugged.

“So? It's kind of annoying actually, he put some skates in front of my door this morning and I almost fell over them on my way to the bathroom. So 'they would be the first thing I saw and the love and passion I had for skating came rushing back', he said.”

Yuuri could tell that Taka was trying very hard not to laugh so he lightly flicked him on his ear.

“Oi, don't laugh, this is serious. I could have fallen and... have a broken leg or something.”

“Yeah but you're still alive and he looks at you like you're the sun,” Taka shrugged, “so I'm just gonna sit back and enjoy this.”

When Yuuri looked over to where Viktor was sitting (he chose a different table every day. So he would find _the one_ , he had said. Yuuri thought it sounded incredibly like he was trying to be in a relationship with one of the armchairs and had to pinch the bridge of his nose whenever he thought about it) Viktor immediately sat up straight and shot him his most wonderful grin.

Slowly, Yuuri walked over, cappuccino in hand and placed it in front of him.

“When are you going to go home, Viktor?”

“Don't be like that, Yuuri. Sit.”

“I'm working.”

“You have a break."

"Yeah, in five minutes."

“You can have your break five minutes early, surely?”

“No, I-”

“Sure he can,” Taka chimed in from behind the counter and waved as Yuuri glanced at him murderously.

“Have a good break!”

Hesitantly, Yuuri sat down, trying to be as far away from Viktor as possible. He still blushed at just the slightest physical contact and at this rate, his heart would simply stop beating before he turned thirty.

“What's up,” he asked conversationally, pulling on a loose thread of the table cloth and studying it as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

“Nothing, nothing. I just... Do you want to skate today?”

“Viktor, you ask me that every day. You know the answer.”

“I'm going to ask you every day until you say yes.”

“Don't you have somewhere to be? Russia for example?”

He looked up just in time to see Viktor's expression turn sad for a moment before brightening up again.  
“Nope, I am right where I need to be.”

Yuuri sighed. He was confused and frustrated.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Because I want to be your coach.”

“No, seriously, it would be so much easier to just...”

Yuuri trailed off as soon as he saw the faint blush creep onto Viktor's cheeks.

“Viktor?”

“Huh?”

“Are you, are you blushing?”

Viktor smiled sadly and put his hands on his cheeks as to hide the faint red colour.

“Blushing? Maybe. Still not as often as you do.”

Yuuri laughed.

“True. Why are you blushing?”

The display of weakness (Yuuri was trying very hard not to squeal because of the adorableness) made him way more confident than he actually felt.

“Because I'm thinking of the banquet...”

Yuuri groaned.

“Just tell me what happened already so I can apologise. You start with the bloody banquet and then just stop talking all together. I really want to know.”

“Yeah, well,” Viktor fixed his look on the coffee in front of him.

“I kind of don't want you to know. Not yet, anyway.”

“Well, whatever it is then, I'm sorry,” Yuuri said exasparated.

Viktor quickly shook his head.

“Don't be,” he grinned.

“It was magical.”

The way he said it made Yuuri flare up again.

He had promised himself he would never feel more for Viktor than the usual fanboy crush. That was all it was. There was no way in hell he would fall in love with the idiot just because he was here. On the other hand, he was here. Staying at Yuuri's home, charming his family (his sister was annoyingly enamoured with him by now) and just being all over the place with his strong personality. And Yuuri couldn't help but like it.

Suddenly, Viktor's features tensed and he looked straight at Yuuri, which made him fidget under the intense look and didn't know what to make of it.

Just as he was about to ask, Viktor opened his mouth and his voice sounded very clear and serious when he said:

“If I can't make you fall in love with ice skating again, how on earth will I make you fall in love with me?”

With that, he stood and rushed out of the café, leaving Yuuri completely shocked. He only snapped out of his stupor when the chair next to him scraped on the floor and Taka sat down, looking confused.

“Did he just?”

Yuuri exhaled audibly and pushed his fringe back.

“He really has to start saying things in his head before actually saying them out loud.”

“So you don't mean he's...?”

Yuuri let out a bark.

“No, of course not. He's being just... Viktor.”

Taka nodded thoughtfully.

“Are you sure though? I mean, he's _very_ insistent.”

Yuuri thought about it for a minute and shook his head.

“No way. The way I see it, he meant it as in 'If I can't make you skate again, how will you pick me as a coach if you finally want to' or something.”

“But-”

“No buts, Taka. Sorry but that's just how he talks,” Yuuri smiled apologetically at his friend.

“Sorry, I didn't want to snap at you it's just... things are... complicated. At least for me.”

Taka nodded and got back up again when he saw new costumers arrive.

“Alright. You just take a minute to calm don't. Don't worry about break time or something.”

Yuuri nodded, thankfully.

He really didn't know what to do. Whenever Viktor said something like that, it did something to Yuuri's insides. He was afraid that if he'd let this continue, it might break him.

 


	4. Chapter 4

Over the next couple of days, Yuuri tried avoiding Viktor as much as possible. That meant having breakfast at 6 a.m. and then going to work an hour later, even though his shift didn't even start until two.

He sat by himself at a table, sulking in his favourite armchair when Taka sat down next to him and sighed.

“You know, your romantic drama ruins my good looks,” he mumbled as he combed through his hair with his fingers.

Yuuri didn't want to but had to laugh involuntarily.

“How come?”

Taka sighed again theatrically.

“Well. You sitting here wallowing in self-pity makes my skin wrinkle because I have to frown so much.”

Yuuri snorted at that.

“You don't have to frown, there is nothing going on.”

“No? You sitting here everyday in the bloody _morning_ holding onto that cup of coffee for dear life says otherwise. Also, you know, the pretending to be busy in the back whenever a certain Russian fellow walks in.”

Yuuri knew when he was beaten and he felt very much beat in that moment.

“I just keep thinking, you know? About what he said...the falling in love stuff... It's the only thing I think about.“

Taka nodded.

“And I told you before, I think he kind of means it _like that_.”

“I think he just wants to be the guy who gets little sad depressed Katsuki Yuuri skating again,” Yuuri explained and set his mug down. He noticed that he actually _was_ clinging to it.

Taka shrugged.

“Think what you will. But you two are making the same kind of puppy eyes at each other and it's bloody sickening. You just wait until a girl comes in here and I start to drama all over you. You'll owe me that for life!”

“Yeah, yeah. As if that will ever happen,” Yuuri tried lightening the mood and was rewarded with a buddy punch to his shoulder.

“Oi, what is that supposed to mean?” Taka inquired but Yuuri just smiled into the cup of his remaining coffee.

“Nothing, all the lovely girls will come to you.”

“They better.”

 

*

 

Yuuri was tired when his shift started. Waking up early really did take a toll on him so he really wasn't prepared for what was coming when he tried putting on his best costumer smile and the costumer he had directed it at, slammed his hands down on the counter. Only then Yuuri took in the others appearance and had to will himself to remain in a standing position because in front of him stood Yuri Plisetsky.

“You,” the 15-year-old accused, “are making me sick.” 

“I- I beg your pardon?” Yuuri asked, trying not to waver. 

“Viktor came all the way here just to coach you. And you stand here making coffee. You _are_ aware that you have lost me my coach, yes?”

Yuuri exhaled audibly. 

“I know, look, I'm sorry, I'm trying to get him to leave but he just-”

“Yuuri!”

The door flew open and in came Viktor, smiling broadly as always, wearing just a very thin shirt and hadn't even bothered to button it to the top. Which meant that Yuuri was absolutely not staring at his idol's chest. No, sir. 

“Viktor!” Yuri marched over in an instant and smacked Viktor on the head.

“Yurio!”

Yuri opened his mouth to say something but shut it only to frown and open it again.

“Yurio?”

“Yes,” Viktor exclaimed happily. “I was talking about you with Yuuri's sister and we got confused about which Yuri we were talking about – let's just say his sister was _not_ fine when I agreed that Yuuri,” he pointed in Yuuri's direction “is attractive. So she decided that we should call you Yurio. And I love it because aww,” he patted Yurio on his head “You are just so cute and the name fits you so perfectly.”

Yuuri watched the exchange warily. Even though he could only hear snippets of their conversation, he was not able to unsee the way Viktor smiled fondly at the younger boy.   


He felt like his insides were burning up and exploding, especially when Viktor actually touched Yurio.

He really couldn't place the feeling but he knew that he didn't like it.

“Oh my god, I'm so jealous. The hot Russian man ruffles my arch nemesis' head and smiles at him and I want his attention on me.”

Yuuri heard a whining voice right next to his head. He turned and looked straight at Taka, who stared at him with a very serious expression.

“Seriously Yuuri. You are so obvious.”

“Am I?”

“Yes.”

“But,” Yuuri thought about it for a moment.

“I'm not even sure if I'm jealous. How does it feel?”

“How does being jealous feel?” Taka looked at him unbelievingly, raising his eyebrows.

“Horrible. Because you absolutely hate the person you're jealous of. You feel even more horrible because you do because they are usually not bad people. You want to be the lone center of attention of that one person and you feel like you're dying just a little inside.”

Yuuri blushed before whispering:

“Alright, so maybe I'm a little jealous." He started wiping down the counter just to have something to do with his hands.  


Taka nodded self-satisfied and was just about so say something when Viktor interrupted them.

“You two seem close,” he said but the usual cheeriness in his voice was gone.

Taka groaned and turned.

He left, mumbling “absolute blind, jealous idiots” before retreating to the storage room.

Viktor watched him go and turned to Yuuri.

“Hi,”

Yuuri glanced behind his shoulder, seeing that Yurio sat still at one of the tables in the far corner.

“Hi, what can I get the two of you?”

“You have been avoiding me,” Viktor stated, still awfully serious.

“We have the caramel cream latte as our special today. Maybe Yurio doesn't like coffee, in that case we-”

“Why are you avoiding me?”

“-have a great selection of hot chocolates and tea.”

They stared at each other for a moment before Yuuri averted his eyes.

“Why are you avoiding me?” Viktor asked again, this time much gentler.

Yuuri contemplated telling the truth. That he was confused and didn't know what to do, suddenly having his celebrety crush and idol stay at his home, being all over him all the time and saying things like 'If I can't make you fall in love with ice skating again, how on earth will I make you fall in love with me?'. In the end, he chose not to.

He said:

“Because I don't want to skate.”

Viktor said nothing for a moment and just stared at him.

“Alright.”

Yuuri's eyes shot up, searching Viktor's face.

“Alright? Really?”

Before he could contemplate what was happening, Viktor smacked him around the head softly.

“No, idiot. Not alright. Let's talk later. I'll have that special of yours in the meantime and Yurio will have... a hot chocolate.”

With that, he turned and walked back to the table where Yurio instantly started complaining again by the looks of it. He left behind a complete and utterly confused Yuuri, absently stroking his head where he had felt Viktor's fingers just moments before.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this comes in such short chapters but I write this to get my mind off of the workload I have for Uni at the moment so...If you'd just bear with me, that would be superb. Thank you so much for reading this! xx


	5. Chapter 5

When Yuuri came home that night, neither Viktor nor Yurio were anywhere to be seen. His mother made him sit down and placed a bowl of katsudon in front of him before taking a seat opposite. Happily, Yuuri munched on his dinner, paused and looked up.

“Mum? Do you... think it's strange that Viktor is here?”

She simply shrugged and looked at her son with something like concern in her eyes.

“No, he's a very nice young man and he is a guest like any other. If you feel bothered by him... I hope you will tell me.”

Yuuri stared at his food for a second, thinking about how to best voice what was going on in his head.

“Not bothered as such I just don't know why he is here.”

“Because you are important to him.”

“How? He doesn't know me?”

He glanced at his mother only to find a small, soft smile playing around her lips.

“I don't think you necessarily need to know everything about a person to love them.”

At that, Yuuri blushed and started flailing around.

“ _Mum_!” he almost shrieked.

“It's not... nothing like that.”

She just nodded, still smiling as if she knew something he didn't.

“Just tell me when it gets too much, yes?” she asked and stood up. She ruffled her son's hair and vanished in the other room.

Yuuri sighed and was more confused than ever. Him having a crush? Very natural. After all, Viktor _was_ incredibly attractive and funny and sweet and unbelievingly talented and simply... Viktor. But Yuuri? There was nothing about him worth leaving your own country for. Or lounging about at an onsen for weeks just because of him. Still thinking, he got up and went to his room. He was absolutely knackered. Getting up that early in the morning really wasn't his style. He did realise that it was only 8 o'clock in the evening but he put on his pyjamas nevertheless and hopped into bed, trying to concentrate on a book he had bought only a couple of days before on one of the early mornings he had left the house to escape. It was a romance novel and he felt embarrassed reading it but he figured that maybe he would understand himself and his own feelings better when he read about others. Plus, Yuuri enjoyed a good love story. And this one just sounded so good. A girl trying to fulfil her dream by pursuing an acting career and failing only to be noticed by one of the famous movie actors who loves her clumsiness and unique character. Yuuri smiled softly when he got to the part where she had to admit to herself that maybe, what she felt for Shane was a bit more than just gratitude.

But just when she was about to actually come to the love part in her interior monologue, Yuuri was ripped out of his reading-stupor when he heard a loud bang.

 

The door had been opened loudly and Viktor stood in the doorway, in one of the Inn's robes. His hair was still slightly damp and there were a couple of water drops, running down his neck.

“Yuuri!! he cried, sitting down on the edge of the bed, grinning at Yuuri's lying form while the younger hastily tried to hide the book underneath his covers.

“There you are, I've been looking for you!” suddenly, his brow furrowed as he took in Yuuri's appearance.

“Are you not feeling well? Are you sick? Do you have a fever?”

Without letting Yuuri answer that, he leaned forward and pressed his own forehead to Yuuri's. It happened so quickly that Yuuri didn't really know what was happening for a second. The only thing he knew was that Viktor was so close that Yuuri's eyes couldn't focus on him and when he tried to find something to focus _on_ , his eyes fell to Viktor's lips which were less than an inch from his, parted. His forehead was now slightly damp too and from this position, he had a great view down Viktor's robe. He really had to show him how to tie that robe properly or Yuuri would be in constant danger of simply fainting.

After a moment or two, Viktor pulled back, breathlessly. It took him a second to concentrate before saying:

“No, no I don't think there is a fever there...er, sorry, my mother used to measure body temperature like that...” he looked bashful.

“It's, fine,” Yuuri ground out, hating how his voice broke at the end.

“Really?” Viktor inched closer and fixed his eyes to Yuuri's lips.

Yuuri squirmed a bit under the covers, feeling incredibly embarrassed to already be in his sleep clothes when Viktor was sitting right _there_ , looking as gorgeous as ever.

Hastely, he kept glancing around, suddenly very self concious about his room. Were his bed sheets okay? They had only stripes so it shouldn't be that bad. How about the huge plush teddy that sat on top of his wardrobe? What if Viktor thought him childish because of that? He quickly checked that all of his drawers were closed, especially the ones with his underwear. Especially the one with the underwear with duck prints on them.

When his eyes landed back on Viktor, he saw the other man studying him intently.

“So, Yurio is here. You must be happy," he tried to start a light conversation.

“Mh,” was the only reply he got. There were a few seconds of silence before Viktor asked:

“You were going to tell me why you are avoiding me.”

Quickly, Yuuri shook his head. “I'm not,” he muttered.

“Then why don't I see you? I want to see you all day.”

Yuuri blushed furiously, pressing his hands to his cheeks as if to prevent them from reddening.

“Er,” he started but immediately was muted by Viktor's hand grabbing hold of his chin. The touch was so soft that Yuuri barely knew it was there if it wasn't for the way Viktor tilted his chin upwards.

He let his hands fall down immediately and his heart beat so quickly in his chest that he was sure that Viktor must be able to hear it but the other man was just sitting there, looking into his eyes. Which by the way were so clear and beautiful and captivating that Yuuri didn't know how long he could keep this up.

Viktor's thumb caressed his cheek once before roaming over his bottom lip and just as sudden as the touch was there, it was gone.

“Uhm, Viktor?” Yuuri asked tentatively, completely out of breath.

Viktor looked lost for a second, unsure of himself and Yuuri hated that look. But he recovered quickly and started laughing manically.

“Sorry Yuuri, you just had something there. Er, something, er, rice! That's it! You had rice there! Alright, so... no more katsudon for you before bed, mister,” he laughed but it sounded hallow.

“Thank you?”

“You're er, very welcome.”

Viktor was very quiet for a second as if contemplating to say something or not.

“I mean it. I want to see you all day,” he finally mumbled and sighed.

“At the banquet...” he trailled off, staring over Yuuri's shoulder out of the window and in the distance before sighing again:

“Never mind.”

“At the banquet, what?” Yuuri urged but Viktor kept quiet.

“Alright then, good night,” he said suddenly and stood to leave and leave.

“Viktor!” Yuuri tried grabbing him, keeping a hold of him, he wanted to know what was going on in the other's head but he was too slow.

Viktor stood and slowly walked out of the room, looking back once and offering Yuuri a small smile that looked genuine but had a sad touch to it.

Yuuri didn't know how long he kept staring at the now unoccupied hallway but he just couldn't tear his eyes away. He could still feel the ghost of Viktor's touch on his face and pressed his own fingers to his lips in an attempt to contain the feeling and never let it go. He had no idea what had just happened. But he did not need Taka to identify the feeling he now had. This was nothing like the painful jealousy or the frustrating crush he kept moaning about. This was something completely different all together. Yuuri was completely overwhelmed with _want_.

He wanted Viktor to be there all the time.

He wanted Viktor to touch him again.

He wanted to touch Viktor.

He wanted Viktor to smile at him all day long.

He wanted to hold Viktors hand.

He wanted to bury his hands in Viktor's head and mess up that stupid style of his.

To make this short:

He _wanted_ Viktor.

 


	6. Chapter 6

When Yuuri stormed into the coffee shop the next morning before opening time, he looked like a man with a purpose. In long, confident strides, he walked over to Taka, leaned on the counter and deadpanned:

“I am in love with him.”

Taka continued wiping down the pastry display and didn't even look up before mumbling:

“I would ask with whom but... I think that's just a little bit obvious.”

Yuuri deflated a bit. He was incredibly excited about the revelation because he had never felt about anyone like that before.

“So what are you going to do?” Taka asked eventually, finally looking at his friend.

“I...”

The question had caught Yuuri off guard and he tried not to let it show on his face.

“I... don't know.”

“You don't know.”

“Not as such.”

Taka sighed.

“Alright then, let's have it, what happened to make you go all RomCom female lead on me?”

Yuuri just stared at him.  
“I'm a man. Why am I not the _male_ lead?”

Taka just indicated in the general direction of him and said: “eh,” before grinning.

“It's just, you're... kind of... The damsel in the damsel in distress situation here. So, out with it. What did mr. right do?”

Yuuri thought about what had happened the night before and tried telling Taka without revealing too much of the feelings that had overcome him after Viktor had left.

“Again with that banquet,” Taka mumbled thoughtfully when Yuuri had finished his story.

“I really want to know what happened.”

Yuuri sighed.

“You and me, both. I could call Phichit or ask Yurio-”

“The little monster still staying with you?”

Yuuri just nodded affirmatively before continuing:

“I just... I really want to know but I really don't.”

Taka nodded.

“Alright, give me your phone.”

Yuuri handed it over without thinking about it but when he had the mind to ask what Taka was doing, he had already dialled a number and held the phone to his ear.

“Hello, yes, Hi. My name is Taka and I'm a friend of Yuuri's. Listen, there is some weird stuff going on and – What? Yes, yes, that's true, he's staying at his place. Huh? No. Yes, that's why I call. Listen, apparently there was a banquet you guys went to...”

 

The more Taka talked, the more Yuuri's face fell. Suddenly, he was more than terrified that he had made an absolute fool of himself. There was a reason why he hadn't communicated with anyone afterwards.

He had his face burried in his hands when Taka finally said his goodbyes and grinned at Yuuri.

“So, Phichit is a very nice bloke,” he grinned wider.

“Also, you are stupid and I'm sorry, I was wrong to call you the female lead. Viktor is the most damsel to ever be in distress.”

“What?”

Yuuri's head shot up instantly.

Taka just held up one finger as if to silence his friend and busied himself with his own phone.

“What are you doing?”

“Sending a text to Phichit. He promised some photos...”

“What?” Yuuri croaked, his voice breaking at little at the end.

Suddenly, there was a ping-sound from Taka's phone and his grin widened even more.

“Ohhhh Yuuri,” he said and held his phone up for Yuuri to see.

And what he saw was something he would love to but never could unsee. It was him, half naked, hugging Viktor with the kind of glee that only drunk people could muster. And Viktor looked... slightly nervous. Which was not surprising because who would enjoy having someone cling to oneself like _that_.

“What did I do?” Yuuri whispered to himself.

“Well, according to Phichit you kind of danced half naked with Chris and then tried to seduce Viktor and begged him to be your coach.”

“You're enjoying this.” Yuuri remarked, watching Taka darkly.

“Immensly.”

Before Yuuri could retort anything, however, the door to the shop opened and suddenly, Yuuri was pulled in a tight hug from behind.

“Yuuri,” Viktor exclaimed happily and then continued to look between Yuuri and Taka suspiciously.

“What are you two talking about?”

Yuuri stood frozen to the spot. He could actually hear his own heartbeat and the rushing of his blood through his veins. He imagined that he must look like a tomato. But how could he not when he had just admitted his feelings for the man currently holding him flush against his own body, breathing hotly into his neck?

“You,” Taka smirked.

“Me? What about?”

Taka glanced at Yuuri quickly and then smiled mischievously.

“Yuuri here was just telling me that he decided that he wants to skate again.”

Yuuri was turned around in Viktor's arms, whose smile was so bright it could lit up a whole castle. 

“Really? That is truly the best news in the whole universe,” he beamed and studied Yuuri's face.

“Is this true?”

Yuuri just heard a quiet snicker from behind him and decided to go along with it. It probably was a good idea, right? What could go wrong? It was a failsafe proof to spend more time with Viktor and who knows? He could fall a couple of times... he _was_ out of practise. And who better to catch him than the man in front of him?

So he simply nodded before he was pulled back into the hug again.

He felt completely squished but he decided that this was the best feeling in the world.

 

Viktor left soon after, giddily explaining that he had so much to prepare and that their first session would be this evening. He even said goodbye to Taka for once who was completely surprised.

“So he likes me now.”

“What do you mean? He likes everyone.”

Taka laughed.

“He stares daggers at me whenever I talk to you. Maybe I should go up to him and tell him that I am actually very straight.”

“Why would he have a problem with you being gay?”

Taka raised his eyebrows and looked at Yuuri unbelievingly.

He placed his arm around his shoulders and said very clearly:

“He _hates_ me because I talk to _you_. He is _jealous_.”

Yuuri felt the head rise in his cheeks again.

“Oh man, this is complicated,” he finally decided to say to which Taka just laughed.

“I tell you. I feel like I'm in a real life RomCom, this is exciting!”

“I think it's really exhausting.”

“Well, we can't have you exhausted. Remember, your first session-” he wiggled his eyebrows - “is tonight. Here, sit, I will make you some coffee.”

Yuuri decided it simply wouldn't do to refuse so he sat down in his favourite armchair, looking at the clock and oddly finding himself looking forward to the end of his shift.

 


	7. Chapter 7

Yuuri was incredibly nervous when he left the shop. He quickly got his fitted skates from home and then made his way tot he ice rink. When he saw it in the distance, he sighed. He fidgeted and stopped short to take a deep breath before going on.

He bravely pushed open the door and felt his heartbeat getting faster and faster. He went to the changing room and put on the skates before he slowly, carefully, crept to the rink. The first thing he saw however, wasn't Viktor but Yurio gliding over the ice. Yuuri instantly felt a whirlwind of emotions. On one hand, he was incredibly relieved because he had no idea how to react to Viktor after he admitted his feelings to himself and Taka. On the other hand, he didn't want Yurio to skate with Viktor. It was stupid to be jealous but Yuuri really couldn't help it. He had always been very critical of the way the two of them seemed to be so awfully close. Seeing them together in the cafe had made him feel a pang of something he couldn't really decifer but seeing them here together? He closed his eyes for a moment, trying not to let those feelings get to him. He would just have to prove that he was just as good as Yurio.

“Yuuri!”

Viktor's voice snapped him out of his stupor as he came gliding over to him. He grinned brightly.

“Are you ready for your first lesson?”

“Our first lesson,” called Yurio from the other side of the ice.

“Yeah yeah,” Viktor sighed.

“Apparently, I have promised him to coach him a while back. While he understands that I will be coaching you, he still insists on a choreography for the next season so... shall we get started?”

Yuuri nodded, trying to muster all the courage he had and stepped on the ice. He had watched a lot of Yurio's performances and knew that the younger boy was so much better. Technically and emotionally. Yuuri didn't stand a chance and he knew it. Still, Viktor had chosen him, hadn't he? Even if it was just because he drunkenly begged him to but Yuuri decided not to dwell on that because he would lie flat on his face in a second out of mortification if he did.

“Right,” Viktor called both of his students to the middle of the ice.

“For today, I just want you to skate a bit. Show me what you can do. You can actually skate one of your last programs if you want to. I just want to get a feel of who you two are.”

“Haven't you watched me skate?” Yurio immediately went red in the face and sounded outraged.

Viktor nodded slowly, seriously.

“Yes, Yurio. In a competition. I want to see how you train. How you react to mistakes when there are no cameras tracing your every move. I want to see the _real you_ skate.”

He fixed them both with a stare Yuuri had never seen before. It was serious, it was professional, it was passionate. Yuuri loved it.

He nodded determined and skated to the middle of the ice. He was a bit shaky and not as confident as he used to feel but that was to be expected after several months without stepping onto the ice once.

He tried to switch his head off. Tried not to think, tried only to feel. After a couple of seconds, he could really feel the familiar exhilaration of being on the ice, twirling, landing a jump. He was completely out of breath when the music stopped and he came to a halt.

He opened his eyes (he hadn't even realised that he had closed them in the first place) and looked around until his eyes met Viktor's. His eyes met his coach's and Yuuri felt electrified. He couldn't stop looking away. Viktor's face was tinted pink, his lips were slightly parted and his eyes wide.

He only came to his senses, when Yurio poked him, wanting to know when it would be his turn.

“Erm, yes,” Viktor started, not taking his eyes off Yuuri.

“You can go next. Yuuri, that was... really good. I mean you are a little unsure sometimes and you wobbled a bit here and there but that was... brilliant. Yes. I think, I think this is going to be a great season for you,” he smiled at his new student.

Yuuri's heart swelled with every word until he just found himself stupidly grinning back at the Russian.

“Come on, move it people. You can stare at each other later,” Yuuri looked at his rival just in time to see him roll his eyes exasperatedly.

He quickly made his way off the ice, all the while feeling Viktor's eyes on him. Maybe Taka was right. Maybe there was something between them.

Yuuri walked over to his idol and stood next to him as the music began. If his own performance had minimised his doubts? Yurio reversed that effect tenfold. Yuuri watched as Yurio gracefully skated over the ice, looking beautiful – for lack of a better word. The elegance he portrayed was simply breathtaking and Yuuri felt his breath actually hitch everytime the younger boy landed a complicated jump correctly. Yuuri was absolutely mesmerised and couldn't contain his glee when the performance was over.

“Yurio, that was amazing!” he beamed.

“Mh, yes,” Viktor mumbled next to him.

“We will have to work on your Triple Lutz. You staggered a bit there. Other than that, it was fine.”

Yuuri stared at Viktor with absolute disbelief.

“It was fine? It was _fine_? You just told me I was amazing. Do you not have eyes in your head? That was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,” Yuuri stage whispered in hopes that Yurio couldn't hear them. He was preoccupied switching his skates for his sneakers before putting on a hoodie.

“Yes,” Viktor didn't bother to be quiet, “but you and him are two completely different stories. He is just as good as I last saw him. You were way better than I expected. I want my students to strive for more, to be better than they currently am. Do you really think that he will be motivated by me praising him?”

Yuuri stared at him open-mouthed while Yurio came over, pulling the hood on his head and came to lean next to them.

“Then why did you praise me?”

By the time the words had escaped Yuuri's mouth, the whole rink was so quiet, one could hear a pin drop.

Yurio, who was never uncomfortable, looked on the floor and fidgeted a bit in his shoes.

Viktor just stared at Yuuri openly, obviously gob-smacked, not knowing what to say.

Yuuri held the eye contact. He felt more and more selfconscious by the second but his resolve to be strong was more important to him. After all, he needed strength if he wanted to make Viktor see him as an equal, wasn't it? It simply wouldn't do if Viktor only ever saw him as the younger boy he trains. The pupil. The lesser being. It simply wouldn't do. When the silence got too long, he swallowed audibly and asked:

“So?”

Viktor seemed to snap out of some kind of trance and he focussed on Yuuri's face.

“You want to know why I praised you?”

Yuuri nodded.

“Yes.”

“Well. When you stepped on the ice I thought I would see a repetition of the Grand Prix Final. I was _prepared_ for you to look like you did in the Grand Prix Final. I was not prepared to seeing you so relaxed, like you enjoyed it. I was not prepared to see you become one with the ice and the music. I was not prepared for you to look even more gorgeous than you usually do. I was not _prepared_.”

Now Yuuri was the one rendered speechless.

Viktor gave him one last meaningful look, turned around and walked in the direction of the changing rooms with Yuuri staring after him.

“Oh boy,” Yurio mumbled.

“How will he ever choreograph me a decent program with all this drama and tension going on.”

Yuuri wanted to say that there was no drama, no tension. But Yurio had already started picking up his skates and following Viktor.

Soon after it was only Yuuri in the big ice hall.

And he was more confused than ever.

 


	8. Chapter 8

Yuuri lay in his bed, painfully aware that Viktor was only a couple of doors away. When he finally admitted to himself that he simply wouldn't fall asleep anytime soon, he lit up his phone and scrolled through instagram. He smiled.

Pitchit was just as active on the site as usual, posting all kinds of pictures from today's training. Yuuri double tapped it and a little heart appeared.

He scrolled on and decided that it had been too long since he'd last done that. Suddenly, his phone started vibrating and Phichit's name lit up on his screen.

Yuuri scrunched his nose up and furrowed his brow. He'd have to answer sometime. Especially now that Phichit and Taka have talked behind his back.

He pressed the green button.

“Yes?”

“Hey Yuuri.”

“Phichit, good to hear you.”

“You know you could've heard me a while ago if you had just _taken my calls._ ”

“I know, I'm sorry.”

“ 'S okay,” Phichit slurred, sounding tired.

“Thing is though... I talked to your friend.”

“Taka, yeah.”

“Yeah. Thing is. I really shouldn't have told him what I did.”

Yuuri blinked slowly a couple of times before asking:

“Why not?”

“Well, er, did he tell you?”

“About me drunkenly molesting Viktor Nikiforov? Yeah, he told me.”

There was a short silence on the other end until:

“Oh boy.”

“Phichit, just tell me, what's up?”

“Okay, so. Technically _I'm_ not allowed to know.”

“But you always know everything.”

“Exactly, So listen. Apparently Viktor explicitly asked everyone in attendance to not talk about it.”

“Wait,” Yuuri sat up straight and narrowed his eyes.

“You weren't there,” he stated.

There was a short laugh.

“Very good, Sherlock. Anyway. Naturally Chris had to boast with him being a prima ballerina as a go go dancer. Naturally he sent pics around. Naturally I saw you on them and asked. Naturally – you know Chris – he told me. Very excitedly, too. Only when I talked to him earlier to you know... make fun of you and Viktor-”

“Oi!”

“Sorry – er, he got white as a sheet and begged me not to tell you or Viktor that I know and told someone because apparently Viktor was very clear about it. Never let Yuuri know about that evening. Never talk about it. He said he would sort it out.”

If Phichit was trying to make sense, he did a pretty good job of confusing Yuuri more and more. He felt his heart beat quickly in his chest and he really was afraid to ask but he had to. He needed to know:

“Sort what out, Phichit?”

“Er...”

Yuuri struggled with keeping himself covered with his blanket and squished the phone between his head and his shoulder as he pulled the bedspread out from under himself.

Just as he was about to free it from his own weight, he heard Phichit say:

“He said something about him 'wooing you with nothing but his masterful skills' whatever they might be...”

But Yuuri didn't even hear the last of that sentence. At the word 'wooing', he let go of his blanket and in turn tumbled of the bed, landing on his butt. The phone fell to the floor and Yuuri just sat there for a moment, breath coming in quick, heavy waves.

Only when he heard his name coming repeatedly from his phone did he snapped out of it and crawled to where the phone lay.

“Yeah?” he croaked, rubbing a now sore spot on his bum.

“So... you're not gonna tell anyone, right? You wouldn't get us in trouble?”

Yuuri shook his head solemnly before remembering that his friend couldn't see him.

“No, of course I won't.”

“You're a doll, Yuuri. So, see you soon then?”

Yuuri's mind was reeling, he couldn't even keep his thoughts clear enough to respond properly.

“Er, yeah, see you soon.”

With that, he hung up and continued sitting on the floor. The only source of light was the moon coming through his window and he sighed.

If anything, the world seemed to make less and less sense.

He finally got up and winced under the sudden ache on his backside.

He lay back down but naturally, after a phone conversation like that he was even less likely to fall asleep. Instead, he played candy crush until the first sunlight was visible through the leaves on the tree right outside his room. _Komorebi_ , in his language.

He lay completely still and could hear how the onsen came to life. First, he only heard one set of footsteps – his mother, he guessed. Shortly after, however, there were more and more footsteps to be heard. Voices, laughter, the sound of different kitchen utensils. Yuuri just wanted to pull his blanket over his head and let the world _be_.

A soft knock sounded on his door.

“Yuuri?”

Yuuri immediately sat up staight, trying to flatten his hair to look somewhat presentable.

“Yeah?”

Viktor slowly opened the door and popped his head in.

“You're still here,” he said surprised.

“Well, where would I be?”

Viktor came in, shrugging his shoulders.

“You weren't here the last couple of days.”

Yuuri suddenly felt hot all over. He just nodded.

“What made you stay home today?”

Viktor asked, voice soft.

“Did you have a fight with Taka?”

Yuuri cocked his head and looked confused.

“Why would I fight with Taka?”

If anything, Viktor looked more deflated.

“I don't know, maybe some domestic conflict?”

“Domestic... Viktor, you do know that Taka and I are not together, right?”

Viktor blinked at him a couple of times before asking:

“What?”

It was Yuuri's turn to blink. How could Viktor even think that? He remembered Taka commenting on something similar but he couldn't believe it.

“Well for starters, he's an idiot and I would never ever fall in love with him,” Yuuri said all the while making a mental note to never tell Taka he said that, “secondly, even though that boy is one hell of a drama queen, he is completely and utterly straight. And thirdly,” Yuuri scrunched his nose up: “ew. It would be like dating my brother or something.”

During his little speech, Viktor's face had lit up more and more until there was nothing left of the frown he had sported earlier. Instead, he beamed at Yuuri, presenting his most beautiful smile. The one where his eyes smiled just as much as his mouth did.

“Yeah?” he asked finally.

Yuuri nodded, suddenly very nervous:

“Yeah.”

They gazed at each other for a moment, until Viktor flinched.

“Right then, I will let you get ready and er... have breakfast with me?”

Yuuri smiled.

“Yeah, sure.”

Viktor gave him one last nod, still grinning madly before he left the room.

Yuuri fell back on his bed, placing one arm over his eyes and groaning.

What on earth had he gotten himself into?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As Mabecyn so rightly pointed out, Pitchit wasn't at the banquet so technically wouldn't know. I just love Phichit so much as the best friend type of character that I haaad to use him >.< maybe this makes sense of the whole thing though :) I promise, I'm going somewhere with this :)


	9. Chapter 9

Suddenly, Yuuri was overcome by all of these feelings. All of the things he had read about before but never felt himself.

As he stood in front of the bathroom mirror, he wanted to look his best when facing Viktor. He wanted to look good. He wanted the right clothes and stylish hair.

Even though he was still confused about Viktor (because he was just so incredibly confusing), he wanted to try. He wasn't convinced about Viktor liking him, as everyone else was. Because firstly, he was himself. Secondly, Viktor was Viktor. That entailed that Viktor just said and did things that didn't make any sense. There was no reason for him to mean “wooing” like _that_. There was no reason for him to be in Japan and pestering Yuuri with his desire to train him. There simply was no reason.

He kept thinking about all of these things, when he walked down to the kitchen where Viktor was already waiting for him.

He smiled at him softly and indicated the spot next to him for Yuuri to sit. Which he naturally did.

During breakfast, all Yuuri wanted to do was ask Viktor why he wasn't supposed to know anything about the banquet. Why he was here. Why he was so insistent. Whether he had a reason for hope.

But he remembered the promise he had made to Phichit and he kept quiet. Also, his mum was bustling about around them and Yuuri really didn't want to have this kind of conversation in front of his mother. When they were done, however, and Viktor announced that they would spend the the day at the rink because _he had_ noticed that it was his students work-free day, Yuuri leaned over:

“Can we talk?”

Viktor looked at him seriously and sighed.

“Alright, what about?”

“Not here,” Yuuri mumbled, watching a few guests coming through and indicating the front door.

“Can we talk outside?”

Viktor nodded slowly and followed Yuuri out. They came to a stop underneath the large tree right outside of Yuuri's window. He looked at the leaves for a moment before turning to face Viktor.

“I'm confused.”

“About what?”

Yuuri had to concentrate and not be sidetracked by the way the wind ruffled Viktor's hair and how it looked absolutely mesmerising.

“About you.”

Viktor sat down on the small wooden bench and looked up at Yuuri.

“About me?”

Yuuri nodded, trying to find the courage he needed.

“I want to know the reason why you are here-” Viktor opened his mouth to say something but Yuuri didn't let him:

“I want to know the _real_ reason why you are here. You gave up skating, Viktor. To sit around in a small Japanese town, _waiting_ for _me_. Me of all people. And I want to know why. And I want to know the truth.”

Viktor nodded.

“I already told you.”

When he didn't seem like he would continue any time soon, Yuuri asked:

“Huh?”

“I told you when I first came here. I need you to fall in love with me and in order to do that I need you to fall in love with skating again.”

Yuuri's jaw dropped.

“You, what? Viktor, you have to understand what you are saying there. You can't walk around saying things like that to people. That's just not how it's done.”

“Oh? And how is it done?”

“It's... I don't even know what you are trying to say.”

“Why? It's not that complicated.”

Yuuri pinched the bridge of his nose. This was getting very frustrating very quickly.

“Look. You keep talking about the banquet. I think I know what I did and I'm sorry. I really am, I-”

“Who told you?”

“What?”

“About the banquet.”

Yuuri stared at the other for a few seconds.

“Well, I _was_ there.”

“You were wasted.”

“Exactly that is why I'm apologising.”

“Don't.”

“Huh?”

It was Viktor's turn to close his eyes and breathe.

“Look, I-”

In that moment, Yurio burst through the front door.

“Oi, you two! Are you discussing things without me?”

Viktor gave him a meaningful look.

“We are discussing _banquet_ things.”

Yurio looked between the two of them and then shrugged.

“So are we allowed to talk about it now?”

“Talk about what?” Yuuri asked and crossed his arms over his chest.

Viktor first turned to the younger boy and scowled: “No you are not,” and then faced Yuuri: “Nothing, absolutely nothing.”

“Viktor made us promise not to tell you how stupid the two of you were.”

Yuuri's eyebrows shot up. He was incredibly glad that he already knew or he would die right there and then of mortification.

“Oh?”

Yurio let himself plop down onto the bench and regarded his fellow skaters.

“Well.”

Viktor grit his teeth: “Yurio.”

“I'm really sorry Viktor but this is getting annoying. I get why you need to stay here, I really do. But I can not have you pining away and not focussing on my routine because you _promised_.”

Viktor immediately covered his face with his hands.

“Pining?” Yuuri asked, his heart beating quicker. If he would only get a concrete answer to all of his questions out of either of them, it would make his life so much easier.

“Pining,” confirmed Yurio.

“Viktor here was so mortified to feel anything remotely close to affection for someone else that way, that he made all of us promise not to tell anyone, especially you.”

“That's enough,” interfered Viktor, glaring at his student.

Completely nonplussed, the young skater hopped off the bench and slowly walked away.

“See the two of you later,” he called over his shoulder.

When he was out of sight, Yuuri turned back around.

“So, pining.”

Viktor didn't say anything and simply sat down.

“Unfortunately.”

“For me.”

“Yes.”

“Because I danced around completely drunk, half naked and begging you to be my coach.”

Viktor merely sighed.

“Someone did tell you.”

Yuuri shrugged.

“Might have.”

“Why didn't you say anything?”

Yuuri thought about it for a moment. Why hadn't he? He chose to be truthful. After all, the keeping secrets is what had brought them into this situation. They could've sorted this out _ages_ ago.

“Do you want a list?”

Viktor let out a short laugh.

“Of?”

“Reasons why I didn't tell you?”

He was properly smiling now, looking up to where Yuuri stood.

“Please do tell.”

“Number one: I didn't believe it. Still don't, actually. Number two: I have never had anyone pining for me and have no clue how to react. Number three: and I'm repeating myself here, I have no idea to react. I have never had some kind of relationship with anyone and I am simply overwhelmed. Oh and I still don't believe it.”

Viktor had listened to Yuuri's ramble and stood up slowly after he had finished. Even slower, he walked towards Yuuri and just stopped when they were almost chest to chest.

“Number one: Do believe it. Number two: I have never pined for anyone in my life. Number three: If you'll have me, we could take it very slow until you feel comfortable.”

Yuuri swallowed audibly and tried not to look at Viktor's lips while he spoke.

“What are you saying?”

Viktor lowered his voice until it was merely a whisper:

“I'm asking to be your boyfriend.”

“What... what would a boyfriend... do?” Yuuri whispered back, anticipating the reply.

“Well,” Viktor slowly cupped Yuuri's face with his hand.

“For starters, I'd ask if it was okay to kiss you.”

“Oh-okay.”

“So? What do you say?”

Yuuri swallowed again and tried to stand upright.

“I'd say... yes?”

“Do you say yes or do you ask yes?”

“I say yes.”

Viktor smiled softly.

“Good. Now, what exactly did you say yes to? Me being your boyfriend or me kissing you?”

“B-both,” Yuuri stuttered before Viktor closed the distance between them and softly kissed him.

Yuuri's breath hitched as he wasn't sure what he was expecting. He just knew that it wasn't _that_.

Of all the feelings he had had in the days before, nothing compared to the absolute ecstasy of kissing Viktor Nikiforov.

When they parted, Yuuri clung onto Viktor's arms and kept his eyes closed for a moment longer.

“Yuuri?”

“Mh?”

“Was that alright?”

Yuuri was pretty sure he could hear something resembling doubt in Viktor's voice. He just nodded and smiled:

“That was actually perfect.”

He opened his eyes when he heard _his boyfriend_ giggling. But the Russian sobered up quickly.

“Let's go, we better meet Yurio at the rink.”

Just as Yuuri was about to complain, Viktor said:

“And no, you are not getting out of skating now.”

Defeated, Yuuri followed him. He would never admit it but he was actually looking forward to being on the ice. The absolute joy he felt could only be expressed through skating. But he would never tell Viktor that lest it stroked his ego too much and he really didn't need that.

 


	10. Chapter 10

Yuuri didn't know what he had expected but being boyfriends with the world's best figure skater who incidentally also was his coach had to have some benefits, right?

Well, he was still waiting for them to show up.  
  


“Yuuri, concentrate! From the top!”

Yuuri swiped the sweat off his forehead with his wrist and tried standing upright. They had been training all day. First, Viktor had revealed the two programs he had written for him and Yurio. No one was more surprised about him having to skate to the sexual choreography than him. Hadn't he told Viktor just that morning that he didn't have any experience whatsoever?

Rolling his eyes, Yuuri skated back to the middle of the rink to get into his starting position. Viktor had said “seduce me” before Yuuri had tried skating the program for the first time. How the hell was he supposed to do that? He tried copying what his coach had done earlier (because let's face it, that crooked smile was goddamn sexy) but somehow it just didn't have the same effekt.

Meanwhile, Yurio kept moaning about true love being a lie and that he didn't want to skate to something so corny.

Viktor had just laughed at both of them, not wavering.

It was way past four in the afternoon when they finally had a break.

“Ew, I'm sweaty,” Yuuri had complained more to himself than anyone else, really.

Suddenly, there was an arm around his shoulder and hair tickling his ear.

“I like you sweaty,” a voice whispered and Yuuri immediately jumped back. He stared at Viktor in horror.

“Viktor!”

He just grinned.

“You can't say something like that!”

“Why not?”

“That's...er... I'm sure it's some sort of sexual harassment!”

Viktor furrowed his brow, pretending to think and snapped his fingers.

“Ahh, I was thinking there was something very un-harassment-y to this situation... Right, I'm your boyfriend now,” he grinned even wider, “therefore I am obliged to like you in _any_ situation, sweaty or not.”

Yuuri felt a deep blush creep onto his cheeks but before he could say anything, he saw Yurio casually leaning on the doorframe, looking flabbergasted.

“Interestingly,” he started, looking between Yuuri and Viktor, “I think that is the most romantic thing I have ever heard.”

Viktor's grin immediately turned incredibly smug before he faced Yuuri.

“Did you hear that? Yurio thinks it was _the most romantic thing he has ever heard_. This means I'm a great boyfriend and you will have to put up with me being the king of romance because that's what okay boyfriends do.”

Yuuri wanted to laugh. He really wanted to. The whole situation was just so absurd and he felt icky and sore all over.

He shook his head, smiling.

“Alright then. _King of Romance_ , what do we do now?”

Viktor looked from Yuuri to Yurio and back again before pushing his fist into the air:

“Ramen!” he exclaimed happily before stalking off.

Yuuri darted a glance in Yurio's direction.

“Does he expect us to sit in a restaurant this sweaty?”

Yurio laughed and pushed himself off the door frame (which Yuuri would absolutely not practise later at home because it had looked _so_ cool).

“Sadly, I think he does.”

*

He did.

Yuuri smiled apologetically at the waiter who had brought them their bowls of noodle soup.

Yuuri took one look at the toppings: meat, sping onions and mushrooms. His favourite.

Suddenly, there was a pair of chopsticks in his bowl, clumsily fishing out some of the mushrooms.

“Oi, what are you doing?” Yuuri immediately asked, looking up.

Viktor was smiling at him broadly, looking down at his own bowl and looking up again.

“I don't have mushrooms.”

“That's because you chose to have the _egg_.”

Viktor shrugged.

“I want mushrooms _and_ egg,” he picked up some of his own vegetables and held them up to Yuuri's face.

“Do you want to try this?”

Yuuri stared at him confused.

“What?”

“Jesus, Yuuri,” Yurio said.

“You two are impossible. It's very hard to watch, yet I can't not watch. Just let him feed you already so I can start pretending that I am somewhere else.”

Yuuri's gaze snapped back to Viktor's face.

“You want to... to feed me?”

“I already told you, King of Romance.”

Yuuri tried contemplating what was happening. Was it normal to feed each other when in a relationship? It just seemed to weird. He finally nodded and opened his mouth slightly, before he could taste the salt of the soy sauce which was the base for Viktor's soup.

He chewed and swallowed before giving a thumbs up.

“Delicious,” he murmured, very much embarrassed.

Viktor just nodded happily and got back to eating his own soup.

“It really is,” he muttered under his breath and smiled.

Yurio just rolled his eyes and concentrated very hard on his own soup, trying to hide how uncomfortable he really was.

When they were done, they walked back to the rink. Halfway there, however, Viktor took Yuuri's hand in his and linked their fingers.

Yuuri's first instinct was to pull away. Everything felt weird at this point. He would however not object to Viktor kissing him again. That had felt really good.

  
  


When the sun was about to go down, Yurio said his goodbyes and left (more like fled because he couldn't cope with the awkward flirting), Which made Yuuri very nervous. Up until then, Yurio had been some kind of buffer between Viktor and him and he could pretend that everything was normal.

“Yuuri?”

“Mh?” he was pulled out of his thoughts.

Viktor was skating towards him, stopping only directly in front of him. Yuuri could feel Viktor's breath on his face and immediately blushed.

He hoped he would stop getting nervous everytime Viktor came close.

Softly, he touched Yuuri's arm and tried getting it into a different position. Only then, Yuuri realised that he was standing in his starting position, ready to go one more time.

“You have to lift your arm up a bit more, like this...” Viktor said softly, manhandling Yuuri into the position he wanted him to be in.

Yuuri just swallowed and nodded.

“Oh-okay.”

For a second, Viktor's gaze fell on Yuuri's lips. He looked torn for a second and then leaned down to peck Yuuri softly.

Yuuri's breath hitched but the touch was gone as soon as it was there.

“One more time, yeah? And then we go home,” Viktor smiled at him, looking a bit tired himself.

“Yes.”

Yuuri waited for the music to start. He wanted to do good one more time. Wanted to give this last performance his best. Wanted to do Viktor proud. And also wanted a reason for demanding Katsudon back at the onsen.

 


	11. Chapter 11

“Oh, look who's back,” Taka grinned as Yuuri walked into the coffee shop.

“I'm sorry Taka, I...”

“You haven't been here in a week? I have had to do double-shifts? I'm tired all the time and missing my best friend? You know what, it's fine.”

“I'm your best friend?”

Taka laughed and continued to put fresh baked pastries into the pastry window.

“That's what you're focussing on?”

Yuuri went behind the counter and sat down on one of the bar stools they kept there for when there weren't a lot of costumers in.

“A bit, yeah.”

Taka glanced at him.

“Well then, yeah, you're my best mate.”

Yuuri smiled and studied Taka for a moment.

“You're mine.”

“Not Viktor? Heard you two have grown quite close.”

“Who...?”

Taka just pointedly looked over to where Yurio sat in a corner, sitting hot chocolate and reading.

“Er,”

“Would have thought you'd tell me about the happy end to your fairy tale.”

Yuuri studied Taka thoughtfully. He was right, Yuuri hadn't been there in a while and he was sorry for that.

“There are no happy endings,” he started, seeing how Taka suddenly perked up.

“Endings are the saddest part,” Taka said, turning around and smiling at Yuuri.

“So just give me a happy middle...”

“...and a very happy start.”

They just smiled at each other for a moment until the doorbell chimed and the moment was broken.

Taka served the customer and then turned back around to his friend.

“I see you read the book I gave you.”

“Oh, you mean the book with the children poetry? Yeah, took a look.”

“You wouldn't be able to understand grown-up poetry so don't judge.”

“Because you are?”

Taka laughed.

“No but that's why I'm the one owning the children’s books, aren't I?”

They kept talking for a while after that. Yuuri very quickly noticed how much he had missed talking to Taka even though it had only been a couple of days.

It was good to tell him about all of the awkward moments and laugh together about it.

Finally, Taka told him to “don't be a stranger, Yuuri,” and Yuuri left.

He was in incredibly high spirits and almost started to whistle on his way home, when his phone rang.

He looked at the display and saw that it was Viktor calling him.

“Hello?”

“Yuuri! Where are you?”

“I just quickly went to the coffee shop.”

There was stony silence on the other line.

“You forgot to tell me...”

“Why, what's wrong?”

Suddenly, he heard a second voice in the background.

“Viktor has cooked for you, Yuuri!”

It was his mother.

Yuuri laughed.

“You did what?”

“I thought you'd be home sooner...” Viktor whined and Yuuri could make out his mother giggling in the background.

“I'll be home in ten minutes.”

“But it's already cold.”

“We'll warm it up.”

“I'd rather warm _you_ up.”

Yuuri went beetroot red and hissed into the phone:

“Not in front of my mother!”

He heard a dark chuckle.

“She just went out of the kitchen, she didn't hear a thing.”

Yuuri exhaled audibly.

“I sure hope so.”

“Well why don't you get here and I heat it up?”

They said their good-byes and if anything, Yuuri almost ran home and was overwhelmed with domestic happiness when he walked into the kitchen and saw Viktor standing there, chopsticks in hand and preparing two plates.

“Finally,” he said and let the chopsticks fall into the sink before he marched over to Yuuri and hauled him into a long and passionate kiss.

“Not,” Yuuri tried saying even though he was out of breath, “not where my family can see.”

Viktor grinned.

“Why, they know.”

Yuuri rolled his eyes.

“Yes well but they really do not need to see you molesting me in their kitchen, do I?”

“Molesting you, am I?”

Viktor cupped Yuuri's face and winked.

He was leaning back in again until the Ping of the microwave interrupted them.

“Food!” Viktor exclaimed happily and Yuuri watched him put the rice and vegetables onto their plates.

“You are so dorky,” he finally said when Viktor turned around to hand him his dinner.

“Good dorky or bad dorky?”

“Can dorky be bad?”

Viktor shrugged.

“Probably, somehow. Imagine me chewing your ear off about insects building colonies under our feet.”

Yuuri stared at his boyfriend, blinking slowly.

“Colonies.”

“Ants.”

“Ants...”

“Ant Colonies, eat up Yuuri, eat up!”

Yuuri shook his head albeit smiling.

After his talk with Taka, he didn't think the evening could get any better. But now he sat here, having a home cooked meal, talking about ant colonies and holding hands with his boyfriend under the table.

Yuuri didn't think it could get any better. Yuuri was in absolute bliss.

 


	12. Chapter 12

Yuuri should have known that bliss barely lasted. Especially for him.

He didn't think it would end that soon when his phone rang in the middle of the night. Reluctantly, he opened an eye to glance at the screen. Taka.

What did he want? At... three in the morning, no less. 

He clicked the green button and just grunted into the receiver.

“Yuuri, I have done something horrible.”

Hearing his friend's voice broken up like that, made Yuuri bolt up and sit up straight in his bed.

“What's wrong, Taka?” he asked, not really sure if he actually wanted to know the answer.

“I...” he broke off, took a deep breath and started again.

“I got a bit chatty with the costumers...”

“Like you do,” commented Yuuri without judgement. He also liked talking to the costumers. They were always incredibly nice and a lot of them (especially the elderly ones), just had the best stories to tell.

“Which we do,” Taka said in a small voice.

“Anyway, a woman came in today. And she was so nice and she had a dog with her - and you know how I feel about dogs - and I ended up talking to her and I kinda...”

he paused.

“You kinda what?”

“I outed you.”

Yuuri didn't understand.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I outed you. She kept asking about you and about Viktor because apparently it is common knowledge that he is here and er... I mean you will see soon enough but Yuuri I need you to know that I didn't mean anything by it, you're my best friend and I would never...”

“Taka, Taka, calm down. What did you say?”

“Just... just look on the internet.”

Yuuri put the conversation on speaker, hoping not to wake anyone in the rooms close to his and pulled up his browser.

There it was, all over the internet, various variations from:

“Skating-loser wins Nikiforov's heart”, to “Katsuki Yuuri – Charity Case”.

Yuuri didn't know what to say or do. He just stared at the (in most cases) capital lettering without even reading the articles. The headlines were enough to know what the public thought about him.

“Yuuri? Please say something?” Taka begged and Yuuri tried putting on a smile.

He barked out a short laugh before saying:

“Nothing I haven't thought about myself, mate,” he said because he knew Taka would never do anything to hurt him. Yes, he felt like he had just been stabbed right through the heart. Yes, he already felt tears prickling behind his eyes. No, he did not blame Taka.

“But it's not true,” Taka whispered.

“It's not true, this is so unfair, everyone who sees you two together knows that.”

“It's still early stage,” Yuuri said, for a short moment ravishing in how grown up he had sounded. Like he had his life under control. Which, he absolutely had not.

“I knew this was coming at some point,” Yuuri continued, trying to calm his friend down.

“And you wake me for something like this?” he mocked.

Silence.

“Okay, I was feeling really bad for saying it, and I still do, but I am also getting incredibly mad at you right now. Can you just... not pretend like you are okay and maybe not talk to me like I am someone you don't know?”

_No, you're just someone who felt free to talk to the press about me_ , Yuuri thought bitterly and immediately shook his head to get rid of those thoughts. It wasn't Taka's fault, it wasn't.

He was about to say so, when suddenly there was a knock on the door.

Yuuri told Taka to wait a second and opened the door.

“Viktor,” he said surprised.

“What are you doing?”

Viktor stood outside of his door, looking absolutely sleep rumpled.

“I heard voices from your room,” he yawned.

“I just wanted to make sure you are alright.”

Yuuri nodded, glancing at the phone in his hand and made a step to the side to let Viktor in.

When he had closed the door, he said:

“It's Taka, he had an encounter with a journalist today.”

Viktor took the phone and held it to his ear.

“Hi Taka,” he said.

“Hi Viktor,” was the overly loud reply. Taka sounded even more strangled than when talking to Yuuri.

Viktor held the phone at arms length and laughed.

“Speakerphone,” he commented and placed it on the middle of the bed before sitting down next to Yuuri on the edge.

“Are you alright?” Viktor asked and looked at his boyfriend with concern written all over his face. Yuuri smiled softly.

In one quick breath, Taka repeated what had happened to him and just like Yuuri, Viktor looked at the headlines, his forehead crinkling even more.

“Those...” Viktor started, following by a lot of Russian.

He went absolutely red in the face and started shaking slightly.

Yuuri didn't think he had ever seen the other man that furious. He wanted to tell him it's okay, he wanted to just link their fingers together and tell him it would be okay but he couldn't. He sat rooted to the spot and just watched Viktor.

“I'm sorry...” Taka's voice snapped them both out of it.

“It's not your fault,” Viktor said, which surprised Yuuri. He had looked so hot-headed a moment ago.

“Look, Takahiro, I had to learn how to deal with the press for years and I still struggle with it. You couldn't have known, I should have thought about talking to you about it but I forgot, so this one is on me, alright? I will deal with it,” Viktor said, leaning down to the phone as if trying to make sure that Taka could hear him properly.

“Yeah,” he finally croaked out.

“Yeah okay... Viktor I am so sorry...”

Viktor looked up and straight at Yuuri.

“It's okay,” he reached over to grasp Yuuri's hand in his.

“We are going to be okay,” he said and looked at his boyfriend so intently, that he had the funny feeling that Viktor wasn't only trying to convince Yuuri, but that he was trying to convince himself.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry it took me so long to update! Life... Thank you for bearing with me!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I'm not sure whether I will be able to upload a chapter next weekend, I thought I'd post another one now :)

After they had hung up with Taka, Viktor had promised that they would be okay one more time before going back to his room.

Yuuri couldn't breathe.

He pulled up his browser again and clicked on the first article. It was a commentary from a tabloid website:

 

_**Katsuki Yuuri and Viktor Nikiforov – the most unlikely couple of the century** _

 

_Last year's overall loser Katsuki Yuuri has apparently stolen Viktor Nikiforovs heart. Katsuki quit skating after a horrible performance and went back to his home town in Japan to make space for more aspiring new skaters. So it will come as a surprise to you, when we reveal this:_

_Katsuki is currently dating Russian gold-medal winner Viktor Nikiforov._

_How? Will you ask yourselves and we can't blame you. We want to know the same thing. We didn't want to believe it before our source – a close friend of Katsuki's – confirmed it yesterday morning. “You should see those two together, always bickering and gazing at each other lovingly,” said the source. The only real question now is: why, Viktor? Why are you dating so much below your level? Does he have something to blackmail you with? Is he that good in bed? Did you take him on as your charity case?..._

 

Yuuri couldn't read on. Could they be right? He couldn't get the words blackmail and charity case out of his head. Did the public really think he would blackmail Viktor into being with him?

He thought about the past few days and weeks and how unlikely it was that they were together. Viktor was _that_ great, _that_ famous. Of course the world would think that he was blackmailing him because he... was not...great or famous, not really. He had lost so pathetically in the past and Viktor was a true winner in everything he did. Yuuri had given up skating to work in a coffee shop, Viktor won gold medals because he had that much will power to work so hard on himself. 

Yuuri curled himself up into a ball and stared at the wall opposite him.

He was a _nobody_.

That was the last thing he thought before he fell into a restless sleep.

 

*

 

When he woke up again, he felt nothing.

It was a little similar to the feeling he had had after all of his competitions, after every time he lost. He tried sitting up but couldn't. His phone vibrated but he didn't want to talk to anyone. When it vibrated again, he turned it off.

He turned around in his bed and closed his eyes again.

_Charity Case._

He squeezed them shut but the thought wouldn't go away.

He didn't even know what day it was. Was he supposed to work? Was he supposed to be at the rink? Suddenly, he didn't care. He was happy before Viktor came to Japan. He worked at the coffee shop where nobody cared about him skating and everyone cared about him making good coffee. He had found friends there, he thought about Taka. He loved his job, why had he given it up?

Viktor's face popped up in his head. His smile, the way he would say his name, his enthusiasm about everything and nothing. Yuuri knew why he had given his beloved café up.

He sighed.

He loved Viktor. Truly loved him.

He sat up and peaked outside. Viktor's door was still firmly closed so he quickly went by it and to the bathroom.

Then, he made his way to the one place he felt like he needed to be at that moment.

 

*

 

“Yuuri, oh my god, Yuuri!” Taka exclaimed and immediately went to hug him.

“You're crushing me,” was all Yuuri could get out and was released. He smiled at his friend a little half heartedly, Taka smiled back.

“I'm just gonna go make you the best coffee _ever_. You go sit down,” he ordered and went behind the counter.

Yuuri regarded the tables and the people sitting at them until he spotted Yurio staring at him in the far corner, reading a newspaper.

“Are you gonna come over or what?” he asked.

Slowly, Yuuri made his way to the table and sat down.

“Morning,”

“Morning,” the way Yurio looked at him... if Yuuri didn't know better, he'd say there was concern in his eyes.

“You okay?” the blond finally asked.

Yuuri let his eyes drop to the front page of the newspaper, which read ' _Love on Ice – has Viktor Nikiforov really thrown his heart away?_ ' and sighed.

“No.”

Yurio nodded as Taka came over to put a steaming hot cup in front of Yuuri, accompanied by a large cupcake.

Taka took a seat, since it was very early and the rush hour wouldn't start for another 20 minutes.

“How are you?” he asked tentatively, watching his friend from underneath his eyelashes.

Yuuri glanced from Taka to Yurio and back again.

“Do you... do you think I blackmail him?”

Yurio snorted.

“Yes, because watching you two feed each other seems disgustingly forced instead of disgustingly cheesy,” he commented before taking a sip of his hot chocolate.

“This is absurd Yuuri, why are you even thinking about this?” he asked.

Taka kept silent, just watching the exchanged with a pained expression.

“Because apparently that's what _everyone_ else thinks...” Yuuri trailed of and picked at a thread from the tablecloth.

Yurio nodded.

“And we all know how stupid people are, don't we,” he confirmed.

“Do you think I'm -” Yuuri didn't come very far because his skating rival immediately jumped in:

“his charity case? If anyone should be his charity case, it should be me.”

“But do you?”

“No.”

“But-”

“No.”

“But-”

“Yuuri,” the blond said dangerously low.

“Don't do this to you. Deep down, you know that this is bullshit. Just... ignore what people are saying. Just be... yourself.”

Yuuri tried to smile.

“This is very high praise, coming from you.”

“Yeah, well. I figured it was the easiest way to shut you up.”

Yuuri smiled thankfully and nudged Taka's knee as if to tell him to drop that serious expression.

He sipped his coffee, relishing the hot taste of pure comfort on his tongue.

“What would you do in my situation?” he asked Yurio.

He boy thought about it for about 10 seconds before saying:

“I would skate the best season of my life.”

Yuuri knew he was right. The way he had said it was so sure of himself.

He nodded.

“Come on then. The rink awaits,” he stated and stood up.

One word from Yurio and all of the emptiness was blown away.

Yuuri felt fiercer, stronger.

He wanted to be strong, he wanted to prove to himself that he was strong enough. He wanted to show them all, just as much as he wanted Viktor to be proud of him.

Yurio chuckled as he stood up.

“I'm still going to beat you Katsuki,” he said smirking.

Yuuri grinned back.

“I would be dissapointed if you didn't.”

They decided to let Viktor sleep. Yuuri had never seen him as shaken as when Taka told him what had happened. Yuuri wasn't quite sure what had scared him exactly but he knew that he wanted to help Viktor. He wanted to be with Viktor. He needed to show that to the world.

 

 

 


	14. Chapter 14

When Viktor didn't show his face once for two whole days after that first article came out, Yuuri began to worry.

What if Viktor didn't want him anymore? What if he was going back to Russia, pretending _they_ had never happened?

Viktor wouldn't do that, would he? At least not without talking to him first?

He was putting on his skates when the by-now familiar feeling of panic flooded him. He didn't want to lose Viktor. That much was clear. Especially not now that he had him... kind of.

He was only pulled out of his thoughts when something hit him on the head.

He looked up and glared at Yurio, who was casually leaning against the door.

“Less sulking, more skating, Katsuki,” he just said before turning around and wobbling to the rink.

Yuuri sighed but followed.

The moment he stepped on the ice, all of his bad feelings seemed to be completely flushed away. He twirled a couple of times, loving the feel of the cold air on his face.

Suddenly, the music to the choreography Viktor had done for him blasted from the loudspeakers.

Irritated, he looked at Yurio, who was casually leaning against the reiling.

“Come on then. We're doing proper training today. I don't want you to completely embarrass yourself...”

At that, Yuuri had to laugh.

“You know, if I didn't know better I'd think that you were trying to help me,” he said loudly to make sure that his rival heard him.

“Yeah, why would I do such a thing?”

Yuuri was skating to the middle of the rink, getting in position but looking at Yurio one more time:

“Because you like me.”

The blond laughed loudly.

“In your dreams, Katsuki! Now skate!”

And Yuuri did. He poured all of his feelings into the performance. The good ones, the bad ones, the weird ones he didn't yet know exactly how to describe.

At the moment, he had no idea why he had given this up in the first place.

He felt energy surging through his whole body and mind didn't think about anything but the choreography.

One jump.

Two, three.

This was what he loved.

He stood back in the middle of the rink, panting.

Yurio stared at him from the sidelines.

“You... Katsuki, that was...”

Yuuri looked back at him, completely lost by the look his friend (which he was. Not that Yuuri would ever tell him) gave him.

“Not as bad as usual,” he ended and Yuuri laughed.

At least there was a little bit of normalicy left.

“Thanks,” he mumbled and scratched the back of his neck, suddenly feeling bashful. He wished that Viktor had been here to see it.

 

When the two of them got home that evening, they were both starving.

Yurio marched into the kitchen and demanded “two katsudon bowls. Katsuki has earned it today”, which had Yuuri beaming.

He was thankful for Yurio. He suspected that if he hadn't been there right from the beginning of the “scandal”, Yuuri's days could have looked much differently. That first day, he had felt like holing up in his room and never showing his face ever again.

And now here he was, getting katsudon for dinner because he had 'earned' it.

 

They sat down in the large dining room and Yurio immediately took control of the remote for the TV in the room and zapped through the various channels.

“Why do you only have Japanese channels?”

One of the onsen guests who had stayed for dinner just looked up from his own bowl of rice and pork and regarded Yurio critically before he continued to eat. Yuuri just laughed.

“Being in Japan and all...”

Yurio sighed.

“I know. Anyway-”

But he didn't get any further because suddenly, the door to the dining room was opened forcefully and in came Viktor.

“Yuuri, I have a solution!” he exclaimed loudly.

Yuuri and Yurio exchanged a questioning look, not only because of Viktor's outburst but also because of his appearance. He still wore the same robe he had worn three days ago now and there were deep circles underneath his eyes. The normally so carefully shaven face showed a distinct stubble and he was holing – no, clutching – a large placard in his hands.

He was just breathing in deeply as if he was planning on speaking and opened his mouth before he closed it again.

“What are you two doing?” he finally asked in a much lower voice and regarded the two Yuri's critically.

Yuuri looked down at his half eaten bowl of rice and back up:

“We're having dinner?”

“But... you're. Is that katsudon?”

“Yes,” drawled Yurio, looking as irritated as Yuuri felt.

“What is it Nikiforov?”

“Er,” Viktor shook his head and continued to stare at them. He lingered on Yuuri and finally asked:

“Are you okay?”

Yuuri nodded.

“Yes, are you?”

Silence. Viktor just stared at them, their dinner and back at their faces.

“Why are you having katsudon?”

“Because Yuuri did well at the rink today which you would have seen if you had been there,” Yurio supplied, now squinting at Viktor as if he was a difficult puzzle to solve.

But Viktor didn't notice any of that.

“You were at the rink today?”

Both skaters nodded.

“Yes, skating your programs.”

“You're not... bothered by what happened?”

“By the press you mean? I am. But I can't let them get the best of me, now can I?” Yuuri said much more confident than he actually felt.

“You... mh,” Viktor said somewhat deflated and let the poster fall down.

“What do you have there?” Yuuri asked, still a little bit confused.

“I made you a dreamboard,” Viktor replied in a small voice.

“A what?” Yurio asked, putting down his chopsticks and trying to see what was on the poster.

“A dreamboard,” Viktor said, picked the large paper back up and showed it to the two. It was full of inspirational quotes and a lot of news paper clippings about the victories Yuuri had had as well as pictures of skates and rinks and hearts.

“I was afraid you wanted to quit skating again and I just... I couldn't let that happen. So I made you this to remind you why you can't quit but apparently...” he looked between his students.

“Apparently it's not needed.”

“Jesus, Viktor,” Yuuri said, taking in all of the different pictures and news paper clippings.

“It must have taken you ages!”

Viktor nodded. “Almost three days,” he said a little bit proudly.

Yuuri stood up and took the placard from Viktor.

“Thank you, I love it,” he grinned and could only just escape Viktor's outstreched arms, which earned him a pouting Viktor.

“Do you not want to hug me? I am your boyfriend, you know?”

That made Yuuri laugh.

“You can hug me after you had a shower, you might be my boyfriend but that doesn't mean I have to hug you after three days without showering.”

“How about a kiss?”

Yuuri laughed:

“Certainly not,”

he shoved Viktor in the direction of the baths.

Only reluctantly, he went. Yuuri stood rooted to the spot, looking at the air his boyfriend had occupied only moments earlier.

“See, nothing to worry about,” Yurio said behind him and continued to eat.

Nothing to worry about, Yuuri thought and smiled.

He looked at the poster again and spotted a picture that Viktor had taken of the two of them a few weeks prior. He thought that he looked happier in that picture than he had in a long time. And right then, in that moment, he felt that it was true.

 


	15. Chapter 15

“The Cup of China?” Taka all but screamed through the reciever.

Yuuri actually had to remove his phone from his ear as to not become deaf.

“Yeah, Taka, the cup of china.”

Silence.

“Yuuri, that's...”

“Huge, terrifying, kind of awesome...yeah, I know.”

“Can I come?”

Yuuri chuckled.

“Sure, if you promise to make me coffee in the mornings!”

That was the exact moment when Viktor walked into Yuuris room and immediately squinted at him.

“Who's making you coffee on what mornings,” he asked suspiciously.

Yuuri beamed at him.

“Taka wants to come.”

Viktor looked taken aback for a moment and then held out his hand expectantly for the phone. A little confused, Yuuri handed it over and Viktor instantly started talking:

“Taka. You are straight, no?”

Yuuri rolled his eyes.

“He didn't mean it like that,” he ground out.

“Just clearing that up,” Viktor said into the phone, followed by loud laughter.

“Yes, yes in that case you may come. What? Yes. Yes you can. I will arrange for it.”

Without another word, he gave the phone back to Yuuri and walked out.

Yuuri held it back to his hear and laughed:

“Did he just?”

“Very protective this one... but there shall be coffee, my friend. Thy life is made!”

Yuuri grinned. He didn't know how anything could go wrong with his boyfriend and best friend on his side.

 

*

 

Yuuri honestly didn't know who was more nervous. Viktor's leg kept vibrating as Yuuri tried slicking his hair back a bit more.

“It's going to be fine, Viktor,” he said. And when did the student have to cheer up the coach?

“If I lose, I'm just gonna go back make coffee.”

“I don't want you to lose.” Yuuri almost didn't hear it because it was said so quietly.

He stopped short, slowly stopped combing through his hair with his fingers and turned around to where Viktor sat on the bench in the changing room. Slowly, he wobbled over, kneeling in front of his boyfriend and taking his hands in his.

“It's going to be fine,” he chuckled, “have you seen the monstrosity of a banner Taka has brought? How could I possibly lose with that?”

That actually did make Viktor smile. They had just stared at Taka as he tried bringing a large banner on the plane but neither of them knew yet what it said.

Viktor nodded and leaned forward to rest his forehead against Yuuri's.

“You're going to be wonderful.”

Yuuri giggled.

“And here I thought I would have to talk you through this, not the other way around,”

he used the already close proximity to peck Viktor on the lips, just before a woman told him that he would be next.

He slowly disentangled himself from Viktor and stood.

He could do this.

Cup of China, here he came.

 

*

Yuuri had no idea what had happened. He remembered skating to the middle of the rink and now here he was, panting, in his end position. Everything in between was a blur. To get some sense of how he was, he turned to look at Viktor and wasn't sure how to read that face. Viktor was flushed, mouth slightly open and eyes glassy.

Had it been that bad?

“Viktor?” he asked and slowly slided towards him.

That was when Viktor decided to start running – onto the ice – with his arms open.

“Yuuri!” he shouted and Yuuri had exactly half a second to wrap his head around what would be happening before it was to late. He hit the floor backwards, his head resting on the cool ice and Viktor lying on top of him. Their mouths were pressed together in a soft kiss and Yuuri closed his eyes.

The only thing he felt was Viktor's lips on his and how wonderful that felt, until:

“Get a room!”

Viktor slowly stood up and Yuuri opened his eyes to scan the audience for the voice. When he finally spotted Taka, looking mock-disgusted and holding a 'Yuuri is the bestest' banner, he could only laugh and point at him.

He hadn't even noticed the silence around them but now that he concentrated on it, one could probably hear a pin fall to the ground.

Taka's shout seemed to have pulled everyone else out of their shock however, because the whole hall erupted in cheers.

Together, Viktor and Yuuri left the ice, hand in hand. Suddenly, Yuuri really couldn't care less about his score.

 

*

 

Second. Behind Phichit.

Yuuri couldn't believe it.

He hugged his friend as tight as he could and didn't want to let go.

“I am so proud of you,” he said and he meant it. There was nobody in the whole world he would rather loose to.

“I am so proud of you, too, Yuuri,” his friend said while hugging him back.

“Does Yuuri seriously hug everyone but me?” sounded from next to him and only reluctantly did Yuuri let go of Phichit. He turned to Taka and threw his arms around him:

“Takaaaa,” he mumbled into the other's neck while being patted on his back.

“Yeah, yeah, congrats and all that. Second place.”

“Thank you,” Yuuri was tired and happy and he could very well fall asleep on his friend.

“You know what that means though, right?”

This was unmistakeably Viktor talking.

“Onto the next round,” Taka cried and this was the moment Yuuri had to let go because he was quite fond of his hearing abilities.

He looked at Viktor who slowly grabbed his hand and held onto it, smiling fondly.

“I'm sorry about today,”

Yuuri just grinned.

“Don't be. If I wasn't as tired as I am right now, I'd be glowing with happiness.”

Taka laughed.

“Oh, you are glowing alright.”

He then grabbed Yuuri's bag from the floor and looked at his two friends.

“Let's get him to bed, eh?”

Yuuri and Viktor just nodded, following him to their hotel.

Yuuri was glowing.

He was happy.

This had been the best decision he had ever made.

 


	16. Chapter 16

“Just a little faster, Yuuri,” Viktor panted. Droplets of sweat were running over his forehead as he closed his eyes.

“Yes, that's it,” he finally moaned.

Yuuri giggled.

“Viktor there are children about.”

They were on their daily jogging trip to the local rink.

“I know,” Viktor grinned.

“Today I just feel like we could outrun the moon.”

Yuuri snickered and smiled fondly at his boyfriend while trying not to trip over his own feet.

They were running in silence for a while before reaching the doors. While Yuuri wanted to go in already, Viktor stopped him.

“Grand Prix Final, Yuuri...” he said smiling.

“You've made it!”

Yuuri laughed out loud.

“Yes, and I am not promising anything. Somebody has to be last, you know.”

Viktor rolled his eyes. He had been waiting for this moment for a while now and had it all planned out. What he had not planned out however, was his own impatience.

“You know, I kind of wanna marry you if you win gold.”

Yuuri had been about to open the door to the rink but he stopped short. His eyes were widened and his breath came unevenly.

“You, what? I am sure I've just heard you wrong.”

“If you win gold, I would like to ask you to marry me.”

Slowly, Yuuri let go of the handle and turned to Viktor.

“Did you just...?”

A faint red coloured his cheeks and he was searching Viktor's face for any hints of mockery. Instead of starting to laugh or at least grin, Viktor just nodded solemnly.

“I did.”

Yuuri snorted.

“Well if that wasn't the most romantic proposal in... never,” he mumbled before stepping into the building.

“Did I do something wrong?”

Viktor asked out loud, before following, not getting an answer.

 

In all honesty, Yuuri was rather taken aback by what Viktor had said. That wasn't something you would just _say_. Marriage was something serious, something permanent. It was the promise of _forever_ (and yes, Yuuri did know how many marriages ended in divorce but he couldn't help but let the romantic in him take the lead on his thought process). How could Viktor say it like that?

 

They were on the ice a few minutes later, just skating, warming up. Viktor didn't dare talk to Yuuri because he knew better than to disturb him when he had his 'thinking face' – as he had dubbed it – on.

He just watched his boyfriend, loving him even more for all of the emotions ghosting over his face without him even noticing it.

Yuuri was thinking about his relationship with Viktor. About how he loved him more than he had ever thought possible. His need to be with him. The need to see his face after a skate and nothing else. He thought about the press and what they had said about him. He thought about the countless conversations he had had with Taka, the soul searching, the emotional roller-coaster.

He suddenly came to a stop and looked up, straight into Viktor's eyes.

“Viktor?”

Viktor was by his side almost immediately.

“Yes?”

Yuuri paused for a second, gently biting his bottom lip as a nervous gesture.

“I am going to win the Grand Prix.”

 

*

 

Second Place.

Yuuri stared at the board with the results.

His eyes started tearing up and he felt like everything around him was spinning.

Second place.

He was excited for Yurio, of course he was. He had grown to love the younger boy dearly over the past couple of months but he had needed this.

He had needed to win this. To show everyone, to show Viktor.

Second place.

He exhaled slowly as if to calm his nerves before receiving his silver medal. He tried to smile but failed.

Yurio put his hand on his shoulder gently.

“Don't look so happy for me,” he said sarcastically.

Yuuri huffed.

“It's not that, I am, really, it's just...” he trailed off, suddenly feeling very pathetic.

“Just what?”

“Well, Viktor told me he wanted to propose, if I... won.”

Yurio's wrinkled his forehead in thought.

“Well that's just bloody stupid. If he wants to propose, that's something personal. Nothing to do with skating. It's just you and him. At least that's how it should be. If his condition for marrying you is winning a stupid contest, then sorry, but he does not deserve you saying yes.”

And with that, he skated off.

Yuuri stared after him, blinking slowly. When the hell had the teenager gotten so wise?

 

*

 

“Viktor, listen,” Yuuri said as he opened the door to their hotel room.

He had been practising what he wanted to say the whole way back. He wanted to tell Viktor how stupid his ultimatum had been. How he didn't want to marry him if he only liked him if he was in first place.

All of these thoughts went out of the window, when Yuuri opened the door.

Viktor was kneeling in front of him, wearing a suit. There was a trail of rose petals to the door and Yuuri had accidentally stepped on a few.

The room was illuminated by candles, placed on the table where he could spot a bottle of champagne and two glasses.

“Yuuri,” Viktor started and Yuuri was rooted to the spot. He wasn't sure if he was ready for what he thought would come his way. He felt panic rising up inside him because everything around him looked so so serious.

“I love you more than I thought I could love another human being – ever. I love you more than myself even.”

Yuuri giggled at that because he was pretty sure Viktor couldn't love anything more than himself. Proof of that were the numerous shampoo bottles in their bathroom.

“I want to be with you every single day for the rest of my life. I know I said I would ask you this if you won. But the moment I said it, I knew that I would ask you regardless. Hell, I would even be sitting here if you had gotten into last place.”

Slowly, he pulled a small box out of his suit pocket and Yuuri held his breath.

“Yuuri. Would you marry me?” he asked solemnly while opening the box. It contained a very classic, golden ring. Yuuri was immediately in love with it.

He didn't say anything for a while and only snapped out of his stupor, when Viktor started to fidget.

Slowly, he nodded.

“I love you, too,” he whispered while taking a step forward and bending down to press a soft kiss against Viktor's lips.

When they parted, he looked into his boyfriend's – fiancée's he reminded himself – eyes.

“More than katsudon?” Viktor asked a little hopeful. 

Yuuri laughed, trying not to cry of joy.

He nodded.

“More than Katsudon.”

 

When someone would have told Yuuri how his life would turn out after his big failure, he wouldn't have believed them. Now, sitting in this small hotel room, drinking champagne with the love of his life, Yuuri knew: This was perfect. And he was thankful for everything that had happened. Thankful for everything he had. Thankful for everything he had to look forward to.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So guuuys, that was it. Thank you so much for reading :)


End file.
